Oceanographic apparatus



Nov. 29, 1966 R. T. RACE OCEANQGRAPHIC APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 25, 1964 INVENTOR.

RICHARD T RACE Nov. 29, 1966 R. T. RACE OCEANOGRAPHIC APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 25, 1964 INVENTOR.

RICHARD T RACE United States Patent 3,237,753 (BCEANOGRAPHEC APPARATUS Richard T. Race, Chicago, Iii, assignor to Motorola, Ina, Franklin Park, ill., a corporation of iilinois Filed Aug. 25, 1964, Ser. No. 391,371 6 Claims. (Cl. 98)

This invention relates to oceanographic devices, and more particularly to an underwater buoy having a floatable portion which may be released in response to sonic signals from a remote transmitter.

For certain oceanographic studies, instrumentated buoys are moored underwater. In order to locate these buoys for their recovery or for taking readings from the instruments contained therein, it has generally been the practice to utilize floating markers on the surface attached to the buoy. Floating markers, however, are subject to damage from surface navigation and weather and may subject the buoy to pilfering. Where ice is present, the moving ice on the surface of the water may carry away the marker completely. If the marker is lost, it is virtually impossible to recover the buoy moored below the surface.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved underwater buoy for oceanographic purposes.

Another object of the invention is to provide an underwater buoy which may be readily recovered without the need for surface markers.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an underwater buoy having a releasable buoyant portion, which buoy is reliable in operation and may be controlled by, remote signals.

.A feature of the invention is the provision of an underwater buoy having a buoyant section and a release mechanism therefor, and a receiver including a resonant electromechanical device responsive to received signals of a predetermined frequency to actuate the release mechanism.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of an underwater buoy having a release mechanism for releasing a floatable section thereof which release mechanism includes a solenoid releasable latch bolt capturing a latch member. The solenoid for releasing the latch bolt is controlled by a receiver responsive to received signals of predetermined frequency.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a buoy constructed in accordance with the invention moored beneath the surface of a body of water;

FIG. 2 isa schematic diagram of the buoy of FIG. 1 subsequent to actuation of the release mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the release mechanism of the buoy;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a transmitter and receiver for use in connection with the buoy of the invention.

In accordance with the invention, an underwater buoy for enclosing oceanographic equipment includes a first section adapted to be moored beneath the surface of a body of water, and a second section of buoyant construction coupled to the first section by a release mechanism. The buoy further includes a receiver incorporating a resonant electromechanical device responsive to received signals of a predetermined frequency. Upon receipt of such signals the receiver actuates the release mechanism, permitting the buoyant second section to rise to the surface of the water. The release mechanism may comprise a solenoid releasable latch bolt which captures a latch member andreleases the same upon energization of the solenoid. The output of the receiver may be connected to the solenoid by means of a thermal time delay ICC relay in order to prevent triggering of the release mec .sm by random signals. A further switch in the t id energizing circuit may be provided to open such circuit after release of the latch bolt in order to prevent excessive power drain. The receiver may be comprised of a preamplifier section and an output stage, with the resonant electromechanical device coupling the preamplifier section to the output stage and providing a bias to hold the output stage conducting in the presence of signals of the predetermined frequency at the output of the preamplifier.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown an underwater buoy having a moored section 11 secured by a chain 12 to an anchor 13, and having a further section 14, which is buoyant. As shown in the figure, section 11 is also buoyant but this need not necessarily be the case if the buoy is to rest on the floor of the body of water. One or both of sections 11 and 14 may carry oceanographic instruments for measuring such things as current flow, temperature, pressure, etc. Accordingly, the buoy may be moored at a desired depth in order to study the various phenomena at that depth.

Section 14 is secured to section 11 by means of a release mechanism 15 and a chain 16. As shown in FIG. 2, chain 16 is of suflicient length to enable section 14 to rise to the surface of the water upon actuation of release mechanism 15. The excess length of chain 16, when the two sections are secured together, may be accommodated in either of the two sections. Section 14, when it reaches the surface, may be adapted to produce a flare or smoke, or to release a dye in order to make the buoy more easily located. When release mechanism 15 is actuated by remote control, as is contemplated by this invention, it is possible to moor the buoy beneath the surface without the necessity of a floating marker. By providing a release mechanism 15 in accordance with the invention, a surface craft in the general area of the buoy may transmit signals for releasing the buoy when it is desired to obtain access thereto. At all other times, all parts of the buoy are safey eneath the surface of the water and consequently free from the dangers of the weather, collision by surface craft, or pilfering.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the release mechanism of the invention in more detail. Section 14 carries the release mechanism 15 mounted on the underside of its bottom plate 1'7. Section 11 carries a latch member shown in dotted lines in FIG 3 and in half section in FIG. 4; Latch member 18 has a hole l9'therein and when the release mechanism 15 is set, a latch bolt or pin 21 extends through hole 19, capturing the latch member 13 and hence the section 11. Latch bolt 21 is supported in a series of three brackets 22, 23 and 24 extending upwardly from a mounting plate 25 for the release mechanism 15. Plate 25 is in turn mounted to a raised channel portion 26 of bottom plate 17 by means of bolts 27. It will be seen that latch bolt 21 has a narrowed down portion 21a on which is disposed a stop 28. A coil spring 29 biases the latch bolt 21 to the right in the FIGS. 3 and 4. The shoulder 31 between the wider portion of latch bolt 21 and the narrowed portion 21a engages a slidabl'e plate 32. Plate 32 has a hole 33 therein through which latch bolt 21 may pass. When the mechanism is set, plate 32 is positioned as shown in FIG. 3, with hole 33 off center so that the shoulder 31 of latch bolt 21 engages the side of plate 32.

When plate 32 is moved a slight distance in the direction of the arrow 34'. in FIG. 3, it will be seen that hole 33 will align itself with latch bolt 21 and permit the bolt to be drawn therethrough by the bias of spring 29. When such release occurs, spring '29 will move the bolt and associated elements to the right as illustrated by the position of the setting handle 37 in dotted lines in FIG. 3.

Strip 28 engages bracket 24 to limit displacement of the Displacement of plate 32 in the direction of arrow 34 to release the mechanism is accomplished by a solenoid 41 having an armature 42 attached to plate 32. Energization of solenoid 41 will draw armature 42 axially into the solenoid, moving plate 32 to align hole 33 with latch bolt 21 for release of the mechanism. Full release of latch bolt 21 will Withdraw the bolt from between brackets 22 and 23, freeing latch member 18 and permitting the buoyant section 14 of the buoy to rise to the surface. Electrical connection to solenoid 41 is made through waterproof tubing 43. A switch 44 having an actuator element 45 aligned with latch bolt 21 is also mounted on section 14 and electrical connection is made thereto through waterproof tubing 46. Switch 44 is connected in the energizing circuit for solenoid 41 and When the latch mechanism is released, element 45 moves outwardly axially in the direction in which bolt 21 has been released, opening the energizing circuit to the solenoid and preventing excessive battery drain. The electrical considerations With reference to the mechanism will be dealt with subsequently in this specification.

A surface craft may carry a transmitter for providing a signal tone. The buoy carries a receiver which receives this tone signal and is responsive to the particular frequency of the tone to provide an output for energizing the solenoid to actuate the release mechanism. Thus a craft searching for the buoy need only put out a signal tone of a predetermined frequency and, if the buoy is Within range of this signal, the release mechanism will be triggered and the buoyant section 14 will rise to the 7 surface.

The transmitter, which is separate and remote from the buoy, may include a stable reed controlled oscillator putting out a predetermined audio frequency. As shown in FIG. 5, the oscillator comprises a transistor 51 with a bridge input including a vibratory reed resonant device 52 in one leg. Power is supplied to the oscillator from a storage battery 53 through a switch 54. Upon closure of switch 54 the oscillator will begin oscillations due to the feedback of transformer 55, which oscillations are controlled in their frequency by means of the reed device 52. Oscillators utilizing reed devices in this manner are old in the art as exemplified by the patent to Peth, No. 2,75 9,103. The output signals from transistor 51 are applied through a filter 56, volume control 57, and switch 58 to a transistorized amplifier.

The amplifier, which amplifies the audio frequency output of the oscillator, includes a pair of driver transistors 61 and 62. These transistors are connected in cascade and coupled through a transformer 65 to a push-pull output stage comprised of transistors 63 and 64. The output of the push-pull amplifier stages 63 and 64 is applied through transformer 66 to a hydrophone or underwater transducer 67. When switches 54 and 58 are moved to the opposite position from that shown in the drawing, the audio amplifier may be used for carrying spoken intelligence underwater to divers working beneath the surface. In this state, the input to the amplifier will be from a microphone 68 through a volume control 69.

When attempting to actuate the release mechanism on I the buoy, amplified signals of a predetermined audio frequency produced by the oscillator are transmitted through the Water by means of transducer 67 A receiving hydrophone 71 is mounted externally of the buoy (see FIG. 3) for detecting these transmitted signals. Hydrophone 71 is connected to a receiver amplifier comprised of four cascaded transistors 72, 73, 74 and 75. A tuned reed unit 76 is located in the collector circuit of transistor 75. This reed unit is similar to the reed unit 52 in the transmitter and is tuned to the same resonant frequency. It is modified, however, by the addition of contacts 77. When hydrophone 71 detects signals of the predetermined frequency, the reed unit begins to vibrate due to signals of the resonant frequency being applied to the driving coil of the unit. Contacts 77 then intermittently close. The third transistor stage 74 acts as an amplifier-limiter to prevent overdrive of the reed unit 76 when strong signals are received from the transmitter.

A fifth transistor stage 81 is provided in the receiver and a resistor 82 connects the base of transmitter 81 to the positive power supply provided by storage battery 83. A further resistor 84 connects the base of transistor 81 through the contacts 77 of reed unit 76 to ground. A parallel path is provided around the contacts 77 through capacitor 85 and resistor 86. Upon the receipt of a tone signal of the resonant frequency of reed unit 76 from the transmitter, contacts 77 will open and close at the resonant frequency. Capacitor 85 is normally charged up to battery potential through resistors 82 and 84. As the reed contacts 77 intermittently close at the resonant frequency, they discharge capacitor 85 partially through resistor 86 to ground. Resistor 86 limits the peak current through contacts 77. The lowering of the average charge potential on capacitor 85 due to closure of contacts 77 lowers the base of transistor 81 sufficiently to cause continuous conduction.

The receiver includes a time delay relay to prevent ambient noise signals from falsely triggering the release mechanism. A resistor 87 is provided in the collector circuit of transistor 81 for heating the bimetal element 88 of the time delay relay. Sufiicient heating of bimetal element 88 will bring the element into engagement with contact 89, closing a circuit through relay 91. Energization of relay 91 closes switch 92, applying energizing current to the solenoid 41. This then triggers the release mechanism and permits the buoyant section 14 of the buoy to rise to the surface of the water. Switch 44 in series with switch 92 is normally closed and, as previously stated, opens only upon displacement of the latch bolt 21 to the released position. When this occurs and the mechanism releases buoyant section 14, switch 44 will open de-energizing the solenoid and preventing excessive drain of battery 83 when the solenoid is no longer needed. A capacitor 93 is connected to ground one side of switch 44 and prevent arcing across the contacts of the switch when it opens.

It may therefore be seen that the invention provides an improved underwater buoy having a floatable section releasable upon energization of a solenoid by a receiver. The receiver is responsive to a single predetermined audio frequency transmitted by a surface craft searching for the buoy to energize a solenoid and actuate the release mechanism. The buoy may be moored completely beneath the surface of the water where it will be safe from the effects of weather, surface craft, and pi-lfering. The reed units used are found in various types of selective calling systems for two-way radio and are readily available on the market. More than one reed unit might be used in order to provide combinations of various signals if a large number of moored buoys were desired to be separately actuable. A

I claim:

1. An underwater buoy including in combination, a first section adapted to be moored beneath the surface of the water, a second section of buoyant construction, a release mechanism securing said second section to said first section, said release mechanism comprising a latch member on one of said sections, bracket means on the other of said sections and a latch bolt being supported by said bracket means, spring means for biasing said latch bolt into open position in said bracket means, displaceable trigger means for holding said latch bolt in position to capture said latch member against the bias of said spring means, a solenoid energizable to displace said trigger means to free said latch bolt so that said spring means moves said latch bolt to open position to thereby release said latch member, the buoy further including a receiver responsive to signals of predetermined frequency and having an output coupled to said solenoid for actuating the same to permit said second section to rise to the surface of the water, said receiver including time delay means connected to said output thereof for preventing actuation of said solenoid in response to random signals having components of said predetermined frequency.

2. An underwater buoy according to claim 1 in which said displaceable trigger means comprises a slidable plate having a hole therein for receiving said latch bolt, and said latch bolt has a shoulder portion which engages the side of said slidable plate to hold said latch bolt in the position holding said latch member.

3. An underwater buoy according to claim 1 in which said receiver includes a hydrophone mounted on one of said sections, amplifier means coupled to said hydrophone, and a resonant reed device coupled to said amplifier and responsive to signals of the predetermined audio frequency.

4. An underwater buoy including in combination, a first section adapted to be moored beneath the surface of the water, a second section of buoyant construction, a release mechanism securing said second section to said first section, said release mechanism comprising a latch member on one of said sections, a series of brackets on the other of said sections and a latch bolt supported in said brackets, spring means for biasing said latch bolt in said brackets in open position, displaceable trigger means for holding said latch bolt in position to capture said latch member against the bias of said spring means, a solenoid energizable to displace said trigger means for causing release of said latch member, the buoy further including a receiver responsive to signals of predetermined audio frequency to provide an output for actuating said solenoid to permit said second section to rise to the surface of the water, said receiver including a thermal time delay relay connecting the output thereof to said release mechanism for preventing actuation of said release mechanism in response to random signals of said predetermined frequency, and switching means having an actuating portion engageable by said latch bolt and operable upon displacement thereof to de-energize said solenoid subsequent to release of said second section.

5. An underwater buoy according to claim 4 in which said displaceable trigger means comprises a slidable plate having a hole therein through which said latch bolt may pass, said latch bolt having a narrowed down portion which engages the side of said slidable plate to hold said latch bolt in the position holding said latch member, and in which said switching means include an actuator portion aligned with said latch bolt for opening said switching means when said latch bolt is withdrawn from said brackets.

6. An underwater buoy according to claim 2 in which said receiver includes further a hydrophone mounted on one of said sections, amplifier means producing an output responsive to signals received by said hydrophone, a resonant reed device tuned to said predetermined audio frequency and coupled between said amplifier means and said thermal time delay relay, said delay relay being coupled through said switching means to said solenoid for actuating said solenoid to cause the release of said latch member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,422,337 6/1947 Chilowsky 340-2 2,775,939 1/1957 Fogal 102-13 3,039,081 6/1962 Smith 340-171 3,142,166 7/1964 Adam et a1. -279 3,155,954 11/1964 Larrick et a1 340-261 3,188,567 6/1965 Jackson 325-163 3,193,853 7/1965 Alexander 9-8 3,205,031 9/1965 McMillan 312-223 References Cited by the Applicant UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,413,450 12/1946 Johnsen. 2,818,807 1/1958 Tracey. 2,929,324 3/1960 Berman et a1. 2,961,957 11/1960 Wolf. 3,012,503 12/1961 Brown et al. 3,016,013 1/1962 Willis. 3,016,829 l/1962 Hall.

MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

T. MAJOR, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN UNDERWATER BUOY INCLUDING A COMBINATION, A FIRST SECTION ADAPTED TO BE MOORED BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE WATER, A SECOND SECTION OF BUOYANT CONSTRUCTION, A RELEASE MECHANISM SECURING SAID SECOND SECTION TO SAID FIRST SECTIONS, SAID RELEASE MECHANISM COMPRISING A LATCH MEMBER ON ONE OF SAID SECTIONS, BRACKET MEANS ON THE OTHER OF SAID SECTIONS AND A LATCH BOLT BEING SUPPORTED BY SAID BRACKET MEANS, SPRING MEANS FOR BIASING SAID LATCH BOLT INTO OPEN POSITION IN SAID BRACKET MEANS, DISPLACEABLE TRIGGER MEANS FOR HOLDING SAID LATCH BOLT IN POSITION TO CAPTURE SAID LATCH MEMBER AGAINST THE BIAS OF SAID SPRING MEANS, A SOLENOID ENERGIZABLE TO DISPLACE SAID TRIGGER MEANS TO FREE SAID LATCH BOLT SO THAT SAID SPRING MEANS MOVES SAID LATCH BOLT TO OPEN POSITION TO THERE BY RELEASE SAID LATCH MEMBER, THE BUOY FURTHER INCLUDING A RECEIVER RESPONSIVE TO SIGNALS OF PREDETERMINED FREQUENCY AND HAVING AN OUTPUT COUPLED TO SAID SOLENOID FOR ACTUATING THE SAME TO PERMIT SAID SECOND SECTION TO RISE TO THE SURFACE OF THE WATER, SAID RECEIVER INCLUDING TIME DELAY MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID OUTPUT THEREOF FOR PREVENTING ACTUATION OF SAID SOLENOID IN RESPONSE TO RANDOM SIGNALS HAVING COMPONENTS OF SAID PREDETERMILNED FREQUENCY. 